ASHLAND, Ore. – There was a healthy mix of highs and lows on opening day of the 2024 regular season for the No. 12-ranked Corban University Volleyball team, who suffered a 3-0 sweep to No. 14-ranked Bellevue University via 25-23, 33-31, and 25-19 set scores before dealing out their own sweep of Simpson University for a day one split, 25-21, 25-14, and 25-14.
"Today was a good start to our season by working on playing together as a unit," Warriors' head coach Kim McLain explained. "Bellevue is a well-coached and solid team who challenged us and exposed our preseason weaknesses. We are excited to get back in the gym to prepare for our upcoming matches on the road in Wisconsin."
Match 1 | #14 Bellevue 3, #12 Corban 0
A 7-1 scoring run by the Bruins (1-0) to open the first set of the season opener for both them and the Warriors (1-1) set the tone for the remainder of the match and forced Corban into playing from behind for a majority of the afternoon. While the Navy and Gold were able to battle back to take a 23-22 lead late in the first set, Bellevue utilized their final timeout to reset pace of play and take the next three points in a 25-23 victory for the Bruins.
Once again, the Bruins jumped out to a sizeable lead to start the second set, leading 14-7 before Corban rattled off seven-straight points to force a 14-all tie. Bellevue persisted to a 23-17 advantage, but Coach McLain's Warriors maintained their composure with another six-nil run to eventually force extra points. The Navy and Gold would eventually have three different set point opportunities in a marathon of a second set but couldn't find the final point they needed in a 33-31 victory for Bellevue.
Having exhausted all their efforts only to trail 2-0 in the match, the Warriors struggled to find much consistency against a revitalized Bruin attack in the third set, as they would go on to drop a 25-19 third set and suffer a neutral site sweep in their first of four NAIA Top 15 matchups over the next eight days.
Kills came at a premium for both teams in Ashland for game two of the Raider Invitational, with each program hitting under .130 for the game with over 50 combined attacking errors throughout the three-set affair. Just five service aces over the entire match and twelve service miscues resulted in the error-heavy outing for both Bellevue and Corban despite the lopsided set results.
Junior setter Abby Guindy was the lone double-double performer of the afternoon in game one for Corban, dishing out 17 assists and defending 11 digs along the way. Sophomore setter Nadeiah Howard matched Guindy with 17 dimes of her own and eight digs.
Thirteen digs from senior libero Marissa Uehara powered the backcourt rotation along with three assists. Senior middle blocker Allyson Reid and sophomore outside hitter Emma Bischoff each swatted three blocks at the net.
Bruins' opposite hitter Kealy Kiviniemi dropped a game-best mark of 13 kills on a .308 attacking clip, with outside hitter Eve Fountain adding 12 more from the left side. Libero Taylan Keefer secured a game-high 16 digs while setter Mila Aiwohi was the other double-double performer of the contest with 16 assists and 11 digs.
Match 2 | #12 Corban 3, Simpson 0
Another slow start in game two of their opening doubleheader seemed to have the Warriors in yet another play-from-behind mentality against unranked Simpson (0-2), yet after trailing 15-12 to the RedHawks, Corban found its offense and rallied for a 10-2 run that would force Simpson into calling both timeouts before eventually dropping the set 25-21 to the Navy and Gold.
The Warriors remained persistent at the net both offensively and defensively into the second set with the RedHawks, as they continued to rack up the kills and blocks while remaining disciplined in the backcourt. After establishing 15-7 and 20-13 leads in the second and third sets, respectively, the Navy and Gold were able to cruise to back-to-back 25-14 set scores and clinch their first win of the 2024 season.
After getting outplayed in their opening match, Corban volleyball led in every statistical category against the RedHawks, including 31-17 advantage in kills, 11-3 in blocks, and 9-3 in service aces. Simpson was entirely in the negative in attacking after 26 errors in three sets played, resulting in a -.123 kill percentage compared to .163 for the Warriors.
Reid was the most consistent Warrior in game two of today's season opening contests, dropping equal amounts of kills and blocks at seven apiece. Sophomore outside hitter Kendra Bittle added six kills while redshirt junior middle blocker Jadah Schmidtke smashed five more at the net. Guindy followed up her match one double-double with a game-high 11 assists in match two. Uehara added another seven digs to her season totals for the game-high mark.
Simpson outside hitter Tiara Manns tallied a team-best mark of five kills but was on the wrong end of seven errors to keep herself out of the net positive. Setter Abigail Shackelford dished out seven assists, while libero Madison Kammuller dug up seven balls in the backcourt.
The Warriors will take the weekend to reestablish themselves before making the journey to La Crosse, Wisconsin for the Viterbo Fall Classic, where they will battle No. 11 Missouri Baptist and the host No. 5 V-Hawks on Friday, August 23rd at 11am and 2pm PT, respectively.
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